Cathedral of St. Paul

From ice carvings to Crashed Ice and icy-cold beer, winter fun is in full swing this weekend in St. Paul. And even better, most events are free. Red Bull’s Crashed Ice has skated into town for the fourth-consecutive year. As many 100,000 people will pack into the hillside in front of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Nelson Mandela’s casket made the nearly 6,000-mile trip from the nation’s capital of Pretoria to his home village Saturday, where the country’s first black president will be laid to rest on Sunday. A memorial service to honor the African leader was held at the Cathedral in St. Paul Saturday. Political and community leaders spoke at the event, which was closed to cameras.

A public memorial service for Nelson Mandela will be held Saturday in St. Paul. The memorial for the late South African leader and anti-apartheid fighter will begin at 1 p.m. in the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Dozens of members of the Catholic Church are calling for a change in local leadership. Nearly 100 people gathered outside the St. Paul Cathedral on Saturday, calling for Archbishop John Nienstedt’s resignation. They’re angry about past accusations of sexual abuse by clergy members that became public within the last few weeks. Eric Fought of the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform says he’s looking for renewed faith in church leadership.“It’s up to us as the laity to step forward and say ‘enough is enough,’” Fought said.

A funeral Mass is being planned for Monday for best-selling Minnesota author Vince Flynn, creator of the Mitch Rapp counter-terrorism thriller series. A family statement says it will be held Monday morning at the Cathedral of St. Paul.